Stanchion



April 25, 1933. L. L. LEWIS 1,905,596

STANCHION Filed April 6, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I April 25, 1933. l w sSTANCHI ON Filed April 6, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 25, 1933STANCHION Application filed April 6,1931. SeriaLNo. 528,173.v

This invention relates to .improvements in stanchions for supportingpipe lines or other as it was poured, but this requires a great 'deal ofcare in careful measurment to locate the bolt inserts or sleeves at theproper points,

things of similar character.

In recent years it has become more common to provide tunnels for largepipe lines instead of merely burying the lines in the earth. This hasbecome especially common where a number of large pipe lines are to belaid parallel, as, for instance, where steam or hot water is to beconducted to and from buildings heated from a central heating plant.Ordinarily the tunnels are made large enough for a person to walkthrough and are lined with concrete inside. By this arrangement thepipes are readily accessible for inspection, repair, or replacement. 7 v

\Vhen a number of pipes are placed in such a tunnel, it is necessarythat the pipes be properly supported at the required in- O tervals andmaintained in the desired positions with relation to each other and thewalls of the tunnel.

For the purpose of supporting the pipes it has heretofore been customaryto provide stanchions which, in general, comprised spaced verticalsupports and horizontal bars upon which the pipes rested. When thestanchions were assembled in a tunnel, it was customary to attach theverticalmembers to the floor and ceiling of the tunnel by means of boltsset in expansion, blocks in holes formed or drilled in the concrete ofthe floor r to hold the vertical ZIIIGHlbCIS in place. Us

ually it would be necessary to drill at least eight holes for eachstanchion; -Thishas been found tedious and expensive work. In 7 case thetunnelwerebeing constructed simultaneously with theinStallatiQll Qfithe'pipe 7 line, the necessary bolt inserts or sleeves could be formed orimbedded in the concrete and adds to and complicates the work ofbuilding the tunnel- This invention has for an object to provide animproved construction for stanchions whereby the work required forinstallation is materially. reduced. 7 l

A further object of this invention is to pro vide an improved stanchionfor supporting pipe lines or other things of'similar character intlllll'lClSWlliCl] may, befirmly and permanently installed in a tunnelWithout drilling or otherwise forming holes, depressions, or openings inthe inner faces of the tunnel.

Another object of this invention .is to provide an improved formoi'stanchion for supporting pipe lines or'other things of similar character111 tunnels, which is composed entirely of parts which may be cuttopredetermined dimensions at the shops and assembled in position withoutmodification of size, length, or in any other'way. I Still anotherobject of thisinvention is to provide an improved stanchion, which isadapted to be permanently retained in position in a tunnel entirely bymeans of frictional engagement with the floor and ceiling of the tunnel.r r A further object is i to provide an improved stanchionwhich' isadapted to be retained in position between the floor and ceiling of apipe tunnel under a substantially uniform and unvarying compressivestress and in which the compressive stress is not materially altered bythe variations oftemp'erature to which it is liable to be subjected, Afurther object of this invention is to providean improved stanchion forsupporting pipe lines in which longitudinal movement of the pipelinesrelative tov the stanchions due to expansion and contraction incident totern.- perature changes will bev permitted without transmitting to thestanchions a force sulfic ient deform the same or displace them;fromtheir proper positions in the tunnel.

While "this invention isbelieved to be of particular value in use inconnection with pipe line tunnel stanchions, and this embodiment of theinvention has been selected as illustrative thereof for the purpose ofdescription in this specification, it is to be understood that theinvention is not to be con- Figure 5 is a bottom View of across-arinretaining cup as disposed in Figure 2.

t Figure 6 is a sectional view of the stanchion shown in Figure 1 takenon line 6-6.

Figure 7 is a front view partly in section of a modified form ofvertical support,

In the drawings, number 1 refers to a side wall of a tunnel throughwhich a number of pipe lines 2 extend. The floor of the tunnel isindicated by numeral 3 and the ceiling by numeral 4. Usually the sidewalls, ceiling.

and floor of pipe line tunnels are made of concrete.

V The stanchion forming the subject of my invention comprises a pair ofvertically disposed columns 5 and 6 which may .be solid metal ortubular. These columns 5 and 6 may be provided at their lower ends withexternal running threads as indicated at 7. The lower ends of columnsare screwed into internally threaded openings 8 of metalcastings 9. Thelower face of each casting 9 is roughened as at 10, so as to increaseits friction against the concrete floor 30f the tunnel. These surfacesare preferably made rough when the castings are formed.

In the preferred form the upper ends of the columns are not threaded,butare left plain. Upper column. retainer cup castings ll are alsopreferably formed with a roughened surface 12 for frictionalengagementwith the ceiling of the tunnel. These castings 11 are formed cup shaped,that is, are provided with a central circular recess 13. This 5 or 6.Before the end of a supporting col-,

umn is inserted in recess 13, however, a strong spring washer 14=and aplain washer 15 are inserted in the recess.

For carrying thepipe lines, the stanchions are provided with cross'armsor bars 16which are supported at their ends in cups 17 which may besecured to uprights BM 6 by U-shaped bolts 18. These cross armsupporting cups comprise a base plate 19 providedwith averticallyextending semicircular recess '20 adapted to conform to theshape of an upright column 5 or 6 upon which it is secured. The baseplate is also provided with a number of bolt holes 21 properlypositioned to receive the ends of U-shapedbolts 18 which secure the cupto an upright. A semicircular flange 22 is formed on the base plate 19and forms a cup 23 for supporting and retaining one end of a cross bar16 upon which the pipe lines rest. The inside face of each cup 23 ismade relatively smooth and the cups are of such size that the ends ofcross bars 16 will substantially fill them but may rotate relativethereto without binding or unnecessary friction. The ends of cross bars16 are also free of unnecessary roughness so that cross arms may rotatein the cups without transmitting a material force to the cups and thestanchions.

In a modified form of my invention the upright columns are retained inposition between the floor and ceiling of the tunnel by a somewhatdifierent arrangement. As shown in Figure 7, the lower end of verticalsupporting column 25 is screw-threadedly received in a retainer castingwhich is similar to retainer casting 9 described in connection with thepreviously described embodiment.

The upper end of column 25 is provided with a running thread 26havingthe opposite pitch to that on its lower end. The upper end isreceived in a retainer casting 27 which is substantially similar tomember 9-, but is provided with a running thread of opposite pitch fromthe thread of member 9. The spring washer 14' and plain washer 15 areomitted from retaining cup 27. In all other respects this modifiedformmay be similar to the first embodiment described.

The operation of installing a stanchion constructed in accordance withmy invention is a relatively simple procedure. The bottom castings 9'may first be screwed on to the lower end of the upright columns 5 and 6until the lower extremities of the columns are substantially flush withthe bottom roughened su'rfa'ceof the castings. The uprights are thenplaced with their lower ends and thecasti'ngs 9 carried thereby in'thede-' sired positions on the tunnel floor and are disposed vertically.The upper retainer castings 11, with the spring washers 14 and plainwashers 12 inserted in recess '13, are

then placed in. position on the upper ends of the columns 5 and 6. Thenext operation is to unscrew the columns from the loweriretainercastings9, so that the columns will move upwardly and the upper endsthereof press intov recesses 13 of the upper retainer cups 11 and engageplain washers 15. The upper retainer cups are thereby forced againstthe'ceil-ingof the tunnel, and the upper roughened surfaces 12frictionally cooperate. with the concrete ceiling 4: so asto preventlateral displacementof the vertical neoabae columns from their properpositions. As the upward movement of the columns continues, the springwashers are compressed to some extent but the unscrewing of the columnsfrom the lower castings is stopped before the spring washers areentirely flattened out. Thus, the vertical columns are retained underresilient compression and lateral displacement thereof is prevented bythe frictional engagement between the roughened surfaces of castings 9and retainer cups 11 with the floor and ceiling respectively of thetunnel. The spring washers 14 have the function of yielding whenever thecolumns become elongated from unusually high temperatures so as toprevent an excessive pressure being exerted onthe roof. The springwashers also prevent the columns 5 and 6 from being subjected toexcessive compressive stress and the resulting tendency to buckle. YVhenthe columns become cold with incidental shortening, the spring washerswill expand and compen sate for the reduction in length so that thecolumns will continue to be held under com pression and the roughenedsurfaces of membore 9 and 11 will be retained in frictional engagementwith the floor and ceiling of the tunnel.

After the vertical columns have been firmly established in position, thecross-arm supporting cups 17 are secured on the columns at the properheight from the tunnel floor to give the pipes 2 to be supported theproper grade. The. pipes 2 are then lifted into position and the crossbars 16 are placed with their ends in the retaining cups. The pipes maythen be permitted to rest upon the cross arms. 7

In case it should be desired at some later time to disassemble astanchion, the upright columns may be turned in the proper direction toscrew the lower ends thereof further into bottom castings 9. Thisshortens the length of the columns and relieves the pressure of theupper retainer cups against the ceiling and the stanchion may be loweredto horizontal position. In case the plain washers 15 were not usedbetween the upper ends of the stanchions and the strong spring washers14: it would sometimes be found that the sharp edge of the springwashers would cut into the metal of the end of the columns and theretainer cups 11. In this event the washers would interfere with turningof the columns in the direction necessary to withdraw the column endsfrom the retainer cups. It is to prevent this that the plain Washers areused between spring washers and the ends ofthe columns. 7

When the pipe line is in service the temperature of the pipes will varyaccording to the temperature of the fluid being conducted and naturallythe pipes will expand and contract with incidental movementlongitudinally. The outer surfaces'of large pipes may sometimes be roughand somewhat irregular- In order that the movement of the pipes overcross bars 16 will not. exert an excessive force tending to displace thestanchions, the ends of the cross bars and the in.- nersurface of theretainer cups are made smooth so that the cross arms may rotate or rollwith respect. to the retainer cups. 7

The erectionof a stanchion constructed in accordance with the modifiedform of my invention previously described is substantially similar tothe procedure outlined above except with respect to the erection of thevertical columns These columns are erected by screwing both the castings9 and 27 upon the lower and upper ends of the columns. The columns arethen disposed vertically and placed in the desired position in thetunnel. The castings 9 and 27 are held against rotation while thecolumns are turned in the proper direction to unscrew from both castingswhich are threaded with opposite pitch as has heretofore been explained.This forces the upper and lower castings upwardly and downwardlyrespectively and into frictional engagement with the ceiling and floorof the tunnel so as to bind the columns under compression in the desiredposition in the tunnel. The rest of the operation of installing themodified form of stanchion is similar to the procedure described inconnection with the other form. 7

Having described my invention, Iclaim: 1. A stanchion for supportingpipe lines between vertically spaced surfaces comprising a pair ofhorizontally spaced vertically disposed standards, each having an endretaining member at each end for frictionally engaging the verticallyspaced surfaces, a

screw connection between one end of each standard and its correspondingretaining member for extending or retracting the length of the standardto adjust the frictional engagement with the vertically spaced surfaces, a spring between the opposite end of the standard and retainingmember to maintain the frictional engagement at approxi- .mately apredetermined degree of pressure,

ing a plurality of horizontally spaced vertically disposed standards,each having an end retaining member at each end for frictionallyengaging the vertically spaced surfaces, a screw connection between oneend of each standard and its corresponding retaining member forextending or retracting the length of the standard to adjust thefrictional engagement with the vertically spaced surfaces, a springbetween theopposite end of the standard and retaining member to maintainthe frictional engagement at ap: proximately a predetermined degree of 7pressure, a retainer bracket frietionally attached to each standardintermediate its ends and a horizontally disposed rounded pipe supporthaving its ends supported in said retainer brackets.

. LLOYDL. LEWVIS.

